Beyond Gehry, Hadid, Graves: Architect in a Starring Role

Do you recall that Charles Bronson’s character in Deathwish was an architect? The list of Hollywoood-created architects was compiled by Tammy Ruggles, BSW, MA.

STARS REDEFINED

Do you recall that Charles Bronson’s character in Deathwish was an architect? Or Gary Cooper as Ayn Rand’s exiled renderer in The Fountainhead? And that Steve McQueen designed the Towering Inferno and watched as faulty wiring turned it into a giant Roman candle?

More recently, Tom Selleck played the flustered baby handler who in Three Men and a Baby issued the following quote: “I’m an architect for Christ sake, I build 50-story skyscrapers, I assemble cities of the future, I can certainly put together a goddamned diaper.”

The list below was compiled by Tammy Ruggles, BSW, MA. Which Hollywood-created architects would you add to the list?

Town And Country, starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton: An architect takes stock of his life, and misunderstandings with family and friends lead to some funny outcomes. 2001.

One Fine Day, featuring George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer: Divorced female architect with a child meets male divorced newspaper columnist with a child. 1996.

Three Men And A Baby, with Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg: Three bachelor friends, including Selleck as an architect, must take care of a new baby. 1987.

‘Til There Was You, featuring John Plumpis and Janel Moloney: An architect has a chance at finding love and happiness with the girl he’s known most of his life. 1997.

All American, with Tony Curtis and Richard Long: A young college student who just lost his parents in an auto accident must choose between his prowess in football and his passion for architecture. 1953.

At First Sight, starring Mira Sorvino as an architect who strikes up a romance with a massage therapist, Val Kilmer. 1999.

Bayou, starring Peter Graves: A New York architect and a southern storekeeper compete for a bayou beauty’s affections. 1957.

Beat Girl, featuring Noelle Adam: An architect’s daughter wants to run with a wild beatnik crowd, and his new wife has an unsavory past. 1960.

The Belly Of An Architect, with Brian Dennehy as an American architect in Paris who struggles to keep his health, his career, his unborn child, and his wife. 1987.

Bingo, with Michael Faella and Diane Farr: A nursing home employee who aspires to be an architect tries his hand at being a gigolo in order to pay his way through architecture school, to the delight of the elderly females in the facility. 1999.

The Black Cat, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in a dramatized version of Edgar Allen Poe‘s tale of travelers who seek help at the home of a famous architect, with unsettling results. 1934.

Death Wish I, II, III, featuring Charles Bronson as an architect-turned-vigilante who takes crime personally. 1985.

Frank Lloyd Wright, a Ken Burns documentary on the life and work of the famed architect. 1998.

Indecent Proposal, starring Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson: Will the wife of a married architect have sex with a millionaire for a million dollars? 1993.

Liebestraum, featuring Kevin Anderson, Bill Pullman, Kim Novak: An architect returns to his ailing mother’s bedside in her last days. 1991.

Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, a documentary about the architect behind the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and The Civil Rights Memorial. 1994.

Mighty Manhattan, New York’s Wonder City, is a short documentary about the architectural accomplishments of New York, including The Empire State Building, The New York Public Library, Rockefeller Center, Temple Emanuel, and The Central Park Zoo: 1949.

The Picasso Summer, featuring Albert Finney and Yvette Mimieux: A San Francisco architect takes his wife on an obsessive quest to meet Picasso, whose work rejuvenated his passion for designing again. 1969.

Rear Window, starring Christopher Reeves and Daryl Hannah: In the TV remake of Hitchcock’s classic, a recently-paralyzed architect believes he’s witnessed a murder and tries to convince the police. 1998.

The Second Room, with Richard Neil as an unfulfilled architect who longs for self-completion, and just may find it with the happy new woman he meets. 1995.

The Towering Inferno, starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman: At a party to celebrate the completion of his towering office building, an architect discovers that there are flaws in the wiring, which results in fiery consequences. 1974.

Two Women, with Mohammad Reza: Two Iranian females struggle to become architects in the anti-woman environment of the Islamic Republic.1999.